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Timeline

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Timeline (2003)

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Reviews Counted:132

Fresh:15

Rotten:117

Average Rating:3.7/10

Consensus: This incoherently plotted addition to the time-travel genre looks and sounds cheesy.

Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: In the heart of the beautiful and historically rich Dordogne Valley of France, a team of archaeology students and their professor diligently work to uncover the ruins of a 14th-century castle. For... In the heart of the beautiful and historically rich Dordogne Valley of France, a team of archaeology students and their professor diligently work to uncover the ruins of a 14th-century castle. For Professor Edward Johnson (Billy Connolly), the project is the culmination of a lifelong dream. Aided by assistant professor Andre Marek (Gerard Butler), his son Chris (Paul Walker) and students Kate (Frances O'Connor), Stern (Ethan Embry) and Francois (Rossif Sutherland), Johnston has made major strides in unearthing not only La Roque Castle but also a monastery and structures from the surrounding village of Castelgard. But things are about to go haywire... Suspicious of the dig's benefactor, International Technology Corporation (ITC) and the man who runs it, Robert Doniger (David Thewlis), Professor Johnston heads to ITC headquarters in New Mexico to get some answers, and while he's away, his students discover a chamber that has been sealed for more than 600 years. Marek and Kate descend into the unstable room, and just before a near disastrous cave-in, they make two startling discoveries -- a bifocal lens, which couldn't have been invented before the chamber was sealed, and even more intriguing, a handwritten plea for help dated April 2, 1357 ... from Professor Johnston! Determined to solve the mystery, the students head for ITC headquarters, where they are stunned to learn of Doniger's new invention -- a machine that can actually transmit three-dimensional objects through space. He meant for the device to revolutionize shipping. Doniger inadvertently opened a worm hole that leads directly to the 14th century, and Professor Johnston, who had insisted on experiencing the discovery himself, is now trapped in a vicious French vs. English feudal war! Can Johnston's loyal students survive one of the most violent battles in world history ... and make it back to the 21st century alive? -- © Paramount Pictures [More]

Starring: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly

Starring: Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, Ethan Embry, David Thewlis, Anna Friel, Neal McDonough

Director: Richard Donner

Director: Richard Donner
Screenwriter: Jeff Maguire, Robert Nolfi
Producer: Lauren Shuler Donner, Jim Van Wyck, Richard Donner
Composer: Brian Tyler
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Reviews for Timeline

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

'The time machine is an astoundingly cheap contraption — really nothing more than a couple of rotating mirrors and a wind machine.'

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
12/08/03
Paul Arendt
Paul Arendt
Teletext

Seriously terrible, but it'll be roaring good fun on video.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/04/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

In Michael Crichton's oeuvre, this is more The 13th Warrior than Westworld. Silly larks for young boys with liberal parents.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
11/05/08
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Walker is by far the movie's biggest liability, a walking vacuum in the time-space continuum with a terrifying ability to commit heinous crimes against cinema dialogue.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
12/05/03
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Timeline takes the most ridiculous movie plot ever and multiplies it by ten.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/05/08
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brainless and aimless but still a little fun.

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment Comment
11/29/03
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

it's very easy to get lost in this silly, fun adventure tale.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
11/27/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
San Francisco Examiner

It plays like a bad episode of the old '60s television series, The Time Tunnel, with lots of uninvolving, back-and-forth action and little to thrill us with the exciting incongruities of time travel.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
11/25/03
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A tired thriller guaranteed to get lost amidst the cerebral and artsy offerings of the holidays

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
11/24/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

A goofy, curious entertainment -- something of a guilty pleasure, a film that invites you to jeer and laugh in equal measure.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
11/26/03
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

like a plus-size episode of Sliders.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/25/03
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com

Timeline treats the past like an amusement park, offering mid-level thrills and nothing more.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
11/26/03
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

This movie is in desperate need of a pulse.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
11/25/03
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

It's a ridiculous, paradox-packed, sci-fi/action contrivance...but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get some guilty pleasure out of this inflated adventure.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
11/24/03
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Timeline fails to grab you and sustain any feeling of wonder. The time travel is treated so matter of factly ... that it, too, cannot stir the imagination.

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
11/26/03
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Features serious over-acting, lousy effects, appalling dialogue, misplaced and ill-advised romantic interludes, a complete lack of tension, nothing to link the story set in the past with the section set in the present and very bad wigs.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
11/26/03
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Based on Michael Crichton's bestseller, this action film plays more like a comedy filled with TV acting and cliché one-liners.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
11/28/03
Stephanie Cook Broadhurst
Stephanie Cook Broadhurst
Christian Science Monitor

Lacking both will and budget, the filmmakers have done the honorable thing and given us a sweetly stupid, mercifully brisk bad movie.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/26/03
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Entertainment Weekly

Couldn't be sillier if Monty Python's knights who say "Ni!" turned up for an extended cameo.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
12/05/03
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

There are a couple of nice moments ... But not enough.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
12/02/03
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for Timeline

November 05, 2008: Michael Crichton Passes Away (1942-2008)
Best-selling author, screenwriter, and director Michael Crichton has passed away at the age of 66. The medical doctor-turned-filmmaker was best known for writing... More...

March 02, 2006: Critical Consensus: A Swinging "Party," A Sweet and Sour "16"
This week's wide releases will take us on a journey. We'll walk a couple blocks ("16 Blocks," "Dave Chappelle's Block Party"), take a dip in the ocean... More...

February 23, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Running" Gets a "Cooler" Reception From Critics
A low-level hood searches desperately for a hot gun ("Running Scared"). A cute pooch battles the forces of evil ("Doogal"). The irrepressible Madea holds a... More...

June 30, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: Into the Blue
Stop by Yahoo! Movies for your first look at the trailer to John Stockwell's "Into the Blue." It's a tale of buried treasure, loyal pals, evil thieves, narrow escapes... More...

See All

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